Beetles,
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
There’s hope for egg producers
who have'difficulty controlling
flies in layer houses if they use the
hister beetle (scientific name: car
cinops) and keep controls on pit
moisture, accenting to a Penn
State entomologist
Dr. Charlie Pitts, Department of
Entomology at Penn State, spoke
about university studies of the his
ter beetle and the use of parasites
that can be effective in controlling
the common house fly in layer
houses.
Pitts told about SO poultry pro
ducers and related agri-industry
representatives that the bister bee
tle “is one friend we ought to take
care of* when using integrated
pest management (IPM) for fly
control. The beetle can be a big
player in a successful IPM fly con
trol program and has the “poten
tial to be an augmentation to other
controls,” said Pitts, for layer
house pests.
Pitts spoke Monday at the Penn
State-sponsored Poultry Manage
ment and Health Seminar at Kreid
er’s Restaurant
Researchers are looking at diffe
rent techniques to identify and
Parasites Can Reduce Poultry House Flies
monitor flies in poultry houses.
The Penn State study observed fly
populations through the use of spot
cards placed in layer houses and
pullets.
One, a 120,000 layer house,
looked at mulching as a possible
control. Another looked at a para
site that scientists call Mucidifurax
vaptorellus.
First, researchers had to find a
way to thoroughly identify fly type
and population. An effective way,
according to Pitts, is through the
use of spot cards. But a quick and
easy way for producers to do a
rough fly type and population
check is by using simple sticky
tape fly traps. The tape can be
attached to a stick and a producer
can move through the house to see
approximately how many flies
emerge from the pits.
The study compared one
untreated house to a beetle-treated
house. In the untreated house,
common house fly populations
peaked at week 6-7 and again at
9-10 weeks, then fell off. In the
treated house, ‘‘a very wet house,”
according to Pitts, the hister beetle
was released the first week. The
beetle eats the common house fly
pupae. The surge in the amount of
beetles corresponded with a rapid
decrease in fly population in the
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house, proving that the beetles
were dramatically effective in con
trolling flies.
What is surprising is that the
beetles even survived adversely
wet conditions. Normally, accord
ing to Pitts, dry conditions must be
present for the beetles to thrive.
Used in conjunction with other
spray control methods, hister bee
tles can prove useful as an option
for house managers.
* ‘The key is to get the pits as dfy
as you can as quickly as you can to
get activity as early as possible,”
he said.
Also, producers should show
some restraint on spraying to
ensure that the beetles aren’t total
ly eliminated from the program.
And while some producers carry
over beetles from the previous
manure in a house, Pitts cautioned
that this can violate good biosecur
ity practices. It is best to clean out a
house entirely, keep the pit mois
ture low, and release fresh beetle
populations by the first 34 weeks.
“The beetle is a key player and
can save you money if you protect
it,” he said.
If using parasites in addition to
spray programs, it is best to make
use of local types of parasites,
which will do better than the ones
from California. Parasites work
A Lesson In 1
Pennsylvania History
Workers' Compensation
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 18, 1995-A26
Or. Charlie Pitts, Department of Entomology at Penn
State, left, spoke about university studies of the hlster bee
tle and the use of parasites that proved effective in controll
ing the common house fly in layer houses. Here, he talks to
Jack Vanderwende, quality assurance manager for PMS
Inc. Heritage, at the poultry meeting.
like the hister beetle to eat the fly
larvae.
Write;
■■■ (717) 687-8262 ■-
Spray on and Brush
Pitts reviewed some of the other
work under way at Penn State to
control house flies:
• This summer, entomologists will be study
ing how Ullage practices reduce fly popula
tions after manure applications. At the Lan
caster County research site, plots measuring
20 feet by S(X) feet had manure applied at the
rate of three tons per acre. Researchers used
10 traps per plot to collect flies in pint-sized
jars. Using no tillage, there was an average of
320 flies collected per trap for a total of 10.97
million flies per acre. Discing the manure
proved of little effectiveness, bringing the
population to an average 0f219 per trap and'a
calculated per acreage total of 7.54 million
flies per acre. Chiseling the manure had some
effect, reducing the average per trap to 74 and
a calculated average of about 2.53 million per
acre. However, the best practice was mold
board plowing, from which 34 flies were col
lected per trap for a total of only 118,331 flies
per acre.
• Entomologists are looking at ways to use
microwave equipment to kill insects in the
field.
• Electrical “zapper” studies will deter
mine how effective they are in reducing house
fly populations.
* Studies are examining the use of photoac
tiviated dies that are absorbed through feed
into flies. Once the flies go into sunlight, the
“photoactivation” process kills them.
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